That’s a song that never was a radio hit, but is known by all fans, you see the greats ultimately resurface and sustain.Īnd I’m now parked in front of the house and I can’t turn “Gone Away” off, I’m loving the mood, and I’m getting the feeling…THIS IS A HIT! I don’t mean a successful record but a ubiquitous record, that cuts across all audiences, which everybody embraces. Needless to say they’re not a feature of hip-hop tracks, but the truth is strings add majesty, they set your mind free, I’m listening to “Gone Away” and I’m immediately reminded of this take of “Message to My Girl” that I got on Napster twenty years ago, with Split Enz backed up by an orchestra. In the early seventies strings got a bad name, they were seen as schmaltz. This is not the only ballad about death made by a rock band, the previous best example being Slaughter’s “Fly to the Angels.” And on that initial LP there’s an electric and acoustic take and it’s the acoustic take that resonates.Īnd then the song evolves and there are STRINGS! Wait, Dexter’s not changing his vocal tone, this is akin to one of those Green Day ballads. Wait a minute, is this a ballad? This was something they did in the late eighties, in the hair band era, most people wouldn’t listen to the act’s normal music so they cut a track or two to appeal to the masses, the most egregious example being Extreme’s “More Than Words,” the rest of the LP sounded nothing like it, and not long after that huge hit the act broke up, it turned out that’s what people were interested, and that’s not the music Extreme normally made.Īnd an acoustic piano sounds so different from a raucous guitar, especially late at night when you’re cruising in your car alone. I know gas is more expensive there, but when it’s eleven o’clock at night safety becomes a factor, I’ve had friends who’ve been mugged at gas stations and my life is worth more than five dollars.Īnd when I pulled away from the station and was sitting at the light I was stunned that the music was still playing, normally it cuts off in this spot, the satellite can’t see through the trees, and it’s quite a long interval before the light goes green, so I know.Īnd after merging back onto the 405 I was cycling through the tracks on the Offspring album and just after I passed the point where Sepulveda cuts underneath the freeway, I heard a piano. So after my hike, I stopped at the 76 station in Bel-Air. It’s one thing to have a hit, quite another to have another and quite another to be able to draw an audience not only for years, but for decades. But I’ve got to give them credit, for persisting and existing, which is the hardest thing to do in today’s marketplace. Put out an album and even fans may not be aware you’ve done so. Today you put out an album and then it immediately disappears into the ether, which is why so many new acts put out singles, on a regular basis, trying to maintain mindshare. I was listening to the new Offspring album, “Let the Bad Times Roll.” I was surprised how good it was.
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And I would have listened even longer if there wasn’t a podcast I wanted to hear, which turned out to be a waste, because talking heads lie and musicians, when they’re in the groove, do not.
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I listened to this song seventy five minutes straight last night.